Hello family and friends, I hope life has been treating you well. Life has certainly been treating us well, we are all moved in and settled in our new home! I seriously smile every day and think, 'wow, I'm so blessed and happy that we have found our home!'. After all we have been through in the past two years, it is so nice to finally have a place we can call our own, where we can begin our new lives together.
It's hard to believe last year at this time, I was rocking my first buzz cut and walking miles around the Duke Adult Bone Marrow Transplant unit, prepping for my bone marrow transplant. Today was "day: -3", the day they started me on Cytoxan, which is the drug that really kicked my ass. I was doing fine for about five days and as Eric says, then I just fell apart. Eventually, I made it through the fevers, night sweats, puking, inability to eat, hallucinations, lung infection and countless other things that I really don't want to name. Today, I feel amazing and I'm overwhelmed by the number of blessings in my life.
Tomorrow, I head up to Duke for my one year check up, it's not really a full year since my transplant was given on leap day. February 29th would be this Friday so that's when Eric and I will celebrate my 1st birthday with my new immune system. I'm really excited to get this check up over with, I have to have a bone marrow biopsy and a full pulmonary test and exam. I'm not as nervous about the biopsy as I have been in the past since it will be done in the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant clinic where they literally do hundreds a week. They are professionals and know how to do it as quick as possible so it's not as painful. Plus, this should also be my last biopsy for a long time. If it comes back clean then we the'll be no reason to test it again unless my blood tests show signs of the leukemia coming back (which it shouldn't).
I'm writing from my window desk, the fog is covering Paris Mountain across the street. It's beautiful and peaceful and I'm so thankful for it all. I will blog later this week with news from my check up. Much love from Travelers Rest! :)
